The multimillion-euro deal will see all 84 McDonald's restaurants in Ireland supplied with bacon sourced from Ireland by Dew Valley, with the potential to provision additional McDonald's markets in Europe in the future.

Dew Valley is a privately owned, independent company, headquartered at a state-of-the-art production facility in Thurles. It employs 250 people in Ireland.

McDonald's uses around nine million pieces of bacon in Irish restaurants annually.

Agriculture minister Simon Coveney said: "This deal is a significant vote of confidence in the Irish agri- food sector from McDonald's, a world leading global brand, and a further step on the Food Harvest 2020 route.

"While this contract is to supply McDonald's Ireland for now, there may be potential to supply McDonald's Europe, which is further good news.

"As global consumption of pigmeat products is expected to grow steadily over the period to 2020, the challenge for the Irish industry is to share in that growth - this deal is a great example of an innovative Irish company rising to that challenge.

"Companies like Dew Valley are leading the way in terms of quality, commitment to sustainability and efficiency."